I've purchased a 05 LR3 with 103k on it. I needed a vehicle I could pay cash for and just keep for 6 months or so as I'm shopping for a new house and don't want to jeopardize the mortgage approval.

My problem is I'm now falling in love with this vehicle and want to keep it. Can you tell me a list of things to have the local indy shop inspect? I could stomach $5k of repairs in the next couple of years but if it were to be more like $10k I'll probably unload it in a few months.

Many thanks!

 

Download the shop manual set in links below. There is a maintenance list. Be sure it is up to date, and push ahead all fluid changes like differentials, etc. Factory list is too optimistic, you don't need to go high miles on these changes.

 

Thanks for that.

Is there anything the shop or I can do to determine if one of the big components are about to fail?

 

How much you have yet to do depends upon what has been done in the past.

If the 3 appears that it was well cared for, then probably you just have to do fluids - and that can be expensive, and particularily the transmission oil and filter. Also there is a pollen/odor/dust filter in the heater / AC system. You might do yourself a favor and replace it. I suggest you use the charcoal variety, LR part number JKR500020 or Mann CUK2747. The Mann you can get them on ebay for about twenty dollars each; from the LR dealer, about fifty dollars. With the charcoal filter, you can then park by a stock yard and never know it exists. That is the sort of hidden feature that makes the 3 different than other 4x4's.

The odds are your 3 probably still has the original shocks and air spring assemblies. The airsprings will remain OK, but the shocks are probably already gone. Replacing the assemblies will be a minimum of about five hundred a corner.

The starter and alternator as well as battery have already been replaced or will need to be in time.

The tranny will be OK as long as it got new oil by at least a hundred thousand miles.

Replacing the plastic thermostat housing and other plastic pieces in the cooling system plumbing would be a good idea, if not already done. A couple of hundred dollars plus labour and new coolant will handle that.

A new updated front differential breather valve costing maybe ten dollars and self installed is a good investment.

The files within the various albums per the link below contain a fair bit of material related to the LR3; as you may note below, mine is also a 2005.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - Home > Member Galleries > bbyer

My feeling is that my 3 is more reliable now than when it was new. Maybe I just understand it now, but I have a higher level of confidence in it now than when it was younger.

When it needs new tyres, I suggest the stock sizes; oversize can result in issues, however most disagree. That reminds me, you will probably need new ball joints and other suspension alignment bits - rubber pieces mostly, and that will be costly - so is the four wheel drive alignment which for me seems to be every year if not more often.

Re brakes, stay with the solid vented stock rotors, (no slots, no holes, it is not a Le Mans racer), but put on Akebono ceramic pads; the LR OEM pads are excellent but the black dust, it just does not have to be.

If the body is good, and I expect it is, spend the money fixing the mechanical; the 3 does not go out of style. My view is that the only vehicle with a more solid body is the Mercedes G Wagon, its only possible competitor with regards to performance and safety. The LR3 has air bags everywhere it seems; the anti skid is good and handling is closer to sports car than 4x4.

Re the Le Mans racer comment above, the 3 is something of an Autobahn race truck however - BMW designed it to give their cars something to chase and look up to.

 

the LR3 is a Ford designed and built vehicle. Thanks for the list.

 

I understand what you are saying. Certainly the electrics are all Ford and the interior was the blueprint for the Ford Flex layout, but the initial body design and general concept as below is probably more BMW than even Land Rover, let alone Ford.

The D3 design evolved when BMW owned Jaguar/Land Rover, about the same time the RR Series III was designed. There was a certain time lag however and is the reason the D3 did not suffer from the BMW 4.4 litre petrol engine which the early RR Series III first offered.

The link below is interesting in that probably you can infer as to how a Ford Flex on the exterior would tend to look like a big Mini. The car business at the upper levels is like royalty, just an extended family.

Range Rover Development

 

@bbyer thank you very much for the fantastic insight. I think I'll just ask the local indy shop (Discovery Automotive - Auto Repair in Cary, NC) to change the major fluids and inspect common pain points with respect to the wallet.